Samsung Galaxy Note

Phone Scoop Review

Feb 15, 2012 by Eric M. ZemanSamsung shoots for the moon with its latest Galaxy phone, the Note for AT&T. This "super phone" offers one of the largest screens on the market, LTE 4G, and a stylus. Can the Note prove that bigger is better? Phone Scoop delivers its verdict. read review ›

Overall

Reception

Battery Life

Hardware Usability

Hardware Quality

Display

Interface Speed

Audio Volume

Camera

User Reviews

Average Ratings

Love this phone

I love this phone, it's size I got used to after one week. Don't be fooled though this is a BIG PHONE. But again it takes about a week and you will be used to it too. The stylus pen is a nice change if you don't want to use the keypad to text or email. The camera is awesome, it is better than some people's digital's. And the screen size is awesome for watching videos. If I had one complaint is that the Note does not have a push to talk button, it has a push to talk app but you have to have the app open to do push to talk. Sort of defeats the whole push to talk purpose. Other than that I love this phone. It's my understanding the Note 2 took care of the push to talk button problem so when I get an upgrade I will be getting the Note II.

A true Business Phone

I am a business professional, I use this phone for records keeping. I save paperwork and with the use of Goggle docs the key features, makes this phone stand out. I can show clients information and they don't have to squint to see the information. With the screen writing ability I can capture signatures while on the go. Great phone could get much better. It can still fit in your pocket.

Samsung's Innovative and Impressive Tablet/Smartphone

Samsung solved my choice: whether to spend money for my first iPad/tablet, or to just upgrade my old Windows (HTC Fuze) smartphone. My Samsung Galaxy Note, SGH i717 has been the innovative and impressive answer. While visiting my carrier's (AT&T) store, it was Samsung Galaxy Note's impressively large screen display that drew my attention. They demonstrated the Samsung S-Pen, which transformed this device into an electronic notepad. The phone's signal and voice quality, including the speaker phone, have been very good in my home location, which is Central New Jersey and the New York City metropolitan area, via the AT&T 4G/LTE network. There are only rare and usually unexplained dropped calls. The phone's battery lasts reasonably well, considering loaded features and my personal usage, but I like to keep a charge and a spare. Despite this phone's large size, I found it reasonably comfortable to hold in my hand, which is medium sized, plus the device easily fits into my pant's (e.g., jeans, dress pants) or coat pockets. To Samsung, I would like to share the following concerns. When powering off the phone while the device is connected to a power source (charging), I must be mindful that the phone will power on again on its own if unplugged. Powering off/on takes no added concern if the phone is not charging. Configuring the headphone jack and the charge/usb connection at opposite ends of the phone, makes the phone awkward to handle or position while in use. Power and volume buttons on the sides should be recessed, to avoid accidental depressing. I've been able to twice upgrade firmware on this phone, now to the Android Jelly Bean version 4.1.2.

Samsung Note

I love this phone i recently purchased it at target for 279 and fell in love with it i use to owen a iphone 4s and decided it was time to give Android a chance. at first i was a little worried about the size but i love the fact of how big the screen is

International Note much better.....N7000

Cannot find anything worng with this and much better than ATT variant in many ways.

FM Radio is a nice inclusion as is the faster processor. Best part is the International community development. There are so many sold internationally that their are more Custom ROMs available

ATT has the IMEI but its not registered in their system so I get UL data via MediaNet. I don;t use a lot so no flags are being raised. 90% in WiFi areas. So the $15 no messaging data plan works. $10 with messaging)

No need for a tablet with this device.

People are generally surprised to see such a large phone. I am so used to it my wife's SGSII feels like a 3.5" screen iphone and its a lot larger than iphone.

The only con is Samsung Switched from a Wolfson DAC in their i897 to the Yamaha DAC.

Best Phone Ever

I have been an Apple lover since the first iPhone came out, and have bought every one since. Purchased this phone because I have an Android based tablet and felt that I could handle the change. Well, I did more than handle it... I enjoyed it. This phone does everything I could want or need.

PROS: -Torrent download support (BIG plus for me) -HUGE screen -Extremely fast menus, fast gpu, excellent video quality. -Allshare program makes sharing pictures, videos, and music EXTREMELY easy (syncs with my PS3 and can play any video/music file downloaded onto my TV wirelessly in HD). -GREAT battery life; can get through a full day of use and still not need recharging.

CONS: -none, period.

This phone gets mixed reviews from people. Some love it, want to hold it and play with it. Others are confused about it and think its just obnoxious.

For me, it's the only phone I ever want to own. Large screen so you don't have to squint, expanded room for icons, and a very light phone! Not awkward to hold and talk on, not too big for almost anybody's hands, and the feeling you get when you know that everything you need is in your pocket or purse.

The transition from apple to Google was seamless. Synced everything on my phone to my Google acct, signed in on my new phone, and everything populated perfectly. Even synced with my Facebook acct and added pictures and other broadcasted info (like address, birthday, email, etc) into the appropriate apps.

If you think that bigger is better, your going to love it. If you want the luxury of not being restricted to a certain size screen, your going to love it. And if you think the app store on the iPhone is great... yup, your gonna love it.

Get this phone, take it home, learn it, & go with it. After using this phone for a few weeks, every other phone you ever hold will seem so tiny and worthless.

Thats it! Thanks for reading my rant!

...BTW, I only created an acct on PhoneScoop so that I could put my 2 cents in about this phone.

Samsung has done it again!

First and foremost, let's get this out there. This phone is big. I mean real big. That being so, you must understand that it definitely is not for everyone. This phone has lots of features to take advantage of that size including the Galaxy S pen. Before you judge this phone, please go into a store and feel how large it is as this will play a role into how you use (or not use) this phone.

Pros: Size (this is a pro for people he like this phone)Screen (Super AMOLED HD)4G (LTE and HSPA+)Battery (for an LTE phone, this has great battery life compared to others)Call Quality (crystal clear on both ends)Processor (1.5 ghz dual core Snap Dragon. Would rather see the Exynos, but this will get the job done)Camera (8mp in rear, 2 in front)Thinner than the Skyrocket

Cons: Size (for those who do not like the size, obviously)Standard keyboard (Samsung, which jumps all over the place trying to predict your word... gets very old... switch this out with the Android keyboard, problem solved.)The white model has a smooth back, unlike the "Ceramic Blue" which has the normal GS2 textured back which adds a little grip.

Overall, this guy is great and my new favorite device running LTE and Android 2.3.6. ICS is promised but probably a ways out as the carrier will have some customizations I am sure. The only thing that really bothered me with the software is that some of the widgets and such aren't designed for this large screen, so they only take up some of the screen which I guess can be a good thing as well as it gives you more room for apps and widgets. The stock calendar widget is amazing. It takes up an entire page but gives you a full month view and is very easy and convenient to read. This phone is great. It will take a little time to get accustomed to the size, but being a previous Dell Streak owner, I am sure it will be no problem. The Galaxy S pen is pretty cool but it is pretty hard to find the button on the pen. I recommend grabbing a Galaxy S Pen holder!

The Beast!

The phone, oh I mean a Tablet how about a Phone and a Tablet! All I Can say is I love it best device I ever had and I've had a lot of phones... The screen is unbelievable like glass, and the speed off the chart. And the size all I can say is go play with it once you do that you will forget all about the size. Great phone okay Samsung has done it forreal this time, iPhone who! My iPhone4s is somewhere in the house I think. Once again GREAT,GREAT,GREAT PHONE!!!!!

A phone to keep for years

The pros>great screen> easy to text on it because the screen is large therefore the keyboard is spread out >fun to play games on -- kiss carrying my iPad and pantech element everywhere. > battery life is okay. It seems to be getting better as I have had it longer.

Cons. -- NONE!!!!!!!!!!! That I can say. I love my note and now my son and husband want one. Just have to find he 299 for each one or wait until it owes down in price.

My first Android...

First off I've owned every iPhone except for the 4S and quite frankly I got kinda bored. In my boredom I did a little research on the international Note and was really impressed. So when I got word of the AT&T note I was all on it.

Pros...

The size- I don't have the largest hands and I love the size of this phone.

The Screen- kinda comes hand in hand with the phones size and this is beautiful, vibrant and HD.

Battery life and LTE- self explanatory.

Pretty much everything!!

Cons-

Not really a true con but iOS was a lot less buggy... But I love the customization here.

Not the phone for everyone, but this is one of the best available today. The Galaxy Note made leaving my iPhone behind very easy. There's literally tons to love about this phone. Try it out for yourself!